Archives for July 2012

When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a short period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves. That’s when illnesses and psychoses arise. What we sought to avoid in combat – disappointment and defeat – come upon us because of our cowardice.

I mourn the loss of ‘being disconnected’. In the ‘pre-internet’ era, I would go out to school and that’s it, I was off the grid, no one would know where I was, till I came back (I used to be in school only, if you were wondering). But, today with the advent of ‘internet’ and more so with the ‘smart phone’ there is no more ‘off the grid’. We are always online — always connected. Isn’t it strange that we now talk about life as ‘online’ & ‘offline’? I don’t recollect having these concepts ten years back.

“I am still paying the penalty of another neglect. I do not know whence I got the notion that good handwriting was not a necessary part of education, but I retained it until I went to England. When later, especially in South Africa, I saw the beautiful handwriting of lawyers and young men born and educated in South Africa, I was ashamed of myself and repented of my neglect. I saw that bad handwriting should be regarded as a sign of an imperfect education. I tried later to improve mine, but it was too late. I could never repair the neglect of my youth. Let every young man and woman be warned by my example, and understand that good handwriting is a necessary part of education.” – Mahatma Gandhi 1

I read a great article this week on The New York Times that resonated with me on several levels and it is something everyone should read. I’m leaving a link to that article at the end of this post. In the article ‘The ‘Busy’ Trap’, author Tim Kreider takes a look into our every day stressed out, anxiety ridden “busy” lives. His raises and answers some fundamental questions – Why ARE we busy? Do we HAVE to be busy? This article got me thinking.

One of the tenets of GTD is to process/clarify all that is captured. To think before you can act. To clarify the ‘whys’. To decide if it is Actionable? Reference? or Trash? Below are a few tips on how to process your inbox: